Maybeboard (8)

Description

My take on a white weenie human strategy for modern. Champion of the Parish, and Thalia's Lieutenant are the build around cards in this type of strategy. The aim is to flood the board with 1 and 2 drop humans and go wide for a turn 4-5 kill. Here is my Primer.

The 1 Mana Creatures:

This is the deck's weakest point in my opinion, and needs help here in future sets to be more of a relevant strategy in the meta.

Champion of the Parish, while being an outstanding early game play, is a terrible top-deck later in the game. It generally requires an early game removal spell, or it will take over the game. Any opening hand looks much better with him in it, overall a fantastic card in the deck.

Kytheon, Hero of AkrosFlip, is another fantastic early game play as his Planeswalker side is a great way to close out the game, and offers you some utility if the ground gets clogged up. It's not uncommon to have a threat of flipping him on turn 3, and is often a prime target for removal should you have 3 creatures on board. He is a much better late game draw, as you can block and give him indestructible, or attack with the same threat depending on the situation. It is terrible in multiples however, as it is legendary, hence the 3 copies.

Thraben Inspector, is one of the only ways this deck has to re-fill it's hand, the deck often has a near empty hand by turn 5-6 and the fact that this card replaces itself eventually makes it a great addition to the deck. Another one of the better late-game draws because of it, and can lead to a potential recovery from a board wipe if you draw something relevant.

Soldier of the Pantheon is kind of underwhelming, the life-gain is almost always irrelevant and the protection from multi-colored while nice at times, is again not the greatest. It's mainly in here for the 2/1 body. It fills out the mana curve nicely however and can contribute to flooding the board with aggressively costed humans.

The 2 Mana Creatures:

Humans have a variety of good options at 2 mana, I went for the most aggressive combination of them that I could find. The mana curve is skewed towards this spot, and can lead to a few awkward draws at times. The sheer game-ending potential found here is fantastic though, so I sacrificed some consistency for more explosiveness.

Thalia's Lieutenant, is extremely powerful here as it acts as an anthem effect for your creatures already in play, and grows larger from your later plays as well. I recommend holding on to these until you play most of your hand, this offers the most value for it and can just end the game depending on the board state. She distributes a lot of power onto the board if played correctly and can end the game on her own.

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, can result in free wins against some strategies and causes a bigger drawback for all other decks that you will face. She is an All-Star in this deck and probably the most generically powerful card in the deck. Drawing multiples is bad if one is able to stick to the board, however, so playing 4 seems risky, however she is often the first target for removal depending on the matchup so I could see myself playing 4 even though she's legendary. She is that good.

Hanweir Militia CaptainFlip, is a 2/2 bear with massive upside. If you are able to flip her at any point she'll often be the largest creature in play that also makes itself, your Champions, and Lieutenants larger at the end of the turn by making a 1/1 human. Another potentially game-winning card at 2 mana, however depending on the matchup it can be fairly difficult to flip her over. Turn 4 is the earliest that this will happen and if you are up against control or a midrange deck that is not going to happen. The upside is too strong to ignore though and is a decent win condition as well as a good filler creature. Due to the awkward mana curve at the moment, she may be the first creature to be replaced should a better 1 drop come along in later sets.

Accorder Paladin, yet another game-winning 2 mana creature that has a lot of extra synergies in the deck. This is the best target for a soulbond with Silverblade Paladin because it has such low toughness, but if you give it double strike, that downside starts to become less of a concern and you end up with a 3 power double striker with battle cry. Battlecry is a great ability in this deck when you are starting to go wide. He is a creature that demands an answer from the opponent, really like this card in here.

3 Mana Creatures and up:

Silverblade Paladin, the only 3 mana creature is the best finisher in the deck. It has an immediate impact on the board and is a way of making any other seeming innocuous creature into a badass. I feel that this is the best creature to put in this spot as I've tried card:Field Marshall, Thalia, Heretic Cathar and others at this spot and haven't been as impressed. A lot of players miss that I can re-Soulbond with another creature once he becomes unpaired, and another creature enters play, so he can escape removal if they're unfamiliar with how the card works. A definite "must kill" creature in here.

Ranger of Eos as a one-of to have a main board way of recovering from a board wipe. A stronger creature than at first glance in this deck, drawing 2 creatures late in the game can be just what you need to free up attackers in some situations as well. He also comes with a 3/2 body which can turn scary in a hurry in this deck. At 4 Mana he can be awfully hard to cast when playing only 20 lands, and can make some opening hands awkward. However, this is the dream late-game draw and because of that, it makes the cut as a one-of.

The Non-Creature Spells:

Due to playing Thalia, we are limited in this department but the few we run are vitally important.

I play Mono-White because of the card Brave the Elements, it can be played as a hedge against a red board wipe, or used to save an important creature against targeted removal. Most of the time it's used to swing in for lethal damage pre-combat however. It's a strong card in any mono-white creature strategy, because of it's versatility but be cautious of eldrazi and affinity as the card is basically dead in these matchups.

Path to Exile should be played in any deck playing white, end of discussion.

The Sideboard:

Leyline of Sanctity is used mainly as an answer to hand disruption, the fact that it also hoses burn is a plus, but that is not it's main purpose in the sideboard, 3 copies allows you to see it in your opening hand a reasonable amount of the time. Hand disruption is very good against this deck and losing your best card is often the difference between winning and losing.

Spellskite is the best card available in the infect and bogles matchups, both of which are reasonably difficult matchups, for us. it can also redirect a removal spell to save a more important creature. This card is also great against burn, which again is by accident but nice to have at the same time.

Selfless Spirit is brought in in anticipation of the opponent bringing in mass removal, which the deck is weak against, an important sideboard card here and is reasonable to run more than 1 copy depending on your local meta.

Disenchant is a must in the sideboard as a 1 of at least. There are a lot of artifacts and enchantments that the deck cannot beat on it's own. It is brought in if your opponent plays cards like Ensnaring Bridge, Torpor Orb, or Worship.

Rest in Peace is the best graveyard hate in the format and I'd suggest running 2 in your sideboard for Dredge, Abzan Company, or Living End matchups. Graveyard hate is a must for any deck in modern

Stony Silence is a great card against affinity and a good card against lantern control and tron. its also just a generally powerful sideboard card against most other artifact based strategies.

Mirran Crusader having protection from 2 heavily played colors in modern is fantastic, some decks will have no answer for this.

Luminarch Ascension is a great win condition against control, and is much harder for them to interact with.

Updates

Very cool deck! Have you though about adding Field Marshal since you run so many soldiers? Also, have you ever considered Windbrisk Heights? If you've got a minute check out my soldier deck here: Brimaz and friends and see what you think...I'd like your input! +1 from me :)

September 17, 2016
12:03 a.m.

RainbowHiker, I recently had a version of this that was a Human Soldier tribal that ran Field Marshall, but I think with only 19 lands I can only run a few 3 drops, and I think Silverblade Paladin is just much better as a finisher in here after testing it. I cannot afford to miss a land drop when playing so few lands either so Windbrisk Heights, while being a potentially powerful effect just isn't worth the drawback.

September 17, 2016
1:15 p.m.

That makes sense, I didn't pay attention to how much land you were running lol. How do you like Honor of the Pure? It tended to be more of a dead card for me, or at most a small buff to a few creatures. I'm interested to hear your though process behind it!

March 6, 2017
2:52 a.m.

IhazadeckMetallic Mimic is interesting in here, but its main drawback is it is colorless and so does not work well with Brave the Elements. the mimic seems like it would preform pretty similarly to Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, and I've already tried and cut this card because it was too slow. Another thing working against the mimic is that I would have to take out a 2 drop to make room for it, my mana curve is skewed towards 2 mana already as it is and I don't see what I would cut for it. Thanks for the comment

March 6, 2017
11:06 a.m.

no problem, people playing similar decks should always swap ideas. at least with my experience, the mimic makes late game draws become a bit more live. being able to make a 2/3 or 3/4 Thraben Inspector or to have a Noble Hierarch be a 1/2 or 2/3 is actually relevant. also cool side note, a bit of a corner case but mimic blocks Etched Champion. Also hows has Hanweir Militia CaptainFlip working out for you?

March 6, 2017
2:08 p.m.

Ihazadeck, I think Hanweir Militia CaptainFlip is pretty solid in the deck, it becomes a lot better if you have established a board state, which is fairly easy to do early in the game. It's drawback is that it needs help to get going, but if it flips it can easily end the game on its own. You are right in that Metallic Mimic would be a better later game draw or when playing from behind, and I think it's fine to run a play set since your deck has more of a focus on +1/+1 counters. I do think that the captain provides a faster clock than the mimic in theory, which is what I'm going for. I think your deck looks solid by the way, its a little slower than mine but has a much better ability to grind games out from the looks of it, nice work.

March 6, 2017
5:44 p.m.

thank you, the real mvp is Lead the Stampede at first i thought it was all about coco. but with lead the stampede i can keep a sketchier hand. turn 1 noble turn 2 stampede, on friday i kept a had full sideboard cards, hit stampede on turn 2, put 5 creatures in hand. i know coco puts them on the board but its a turn slower. plus me a cocos are cursed, on camera once i coco back to back double whiff, 30 creature deck. also only the hands with mimic on turn 2 are my slow hands. usually this deck is pretty fast, game ever with it i out raced affinity.

March 7, 2017
2:03 a.m.

Ihazadeck, I could see being able to outrace affinity with it, human decks are some of the faster decks in Modern when they have the right pieces. I wasn't trying to imply your deck was slow, I was just trying to make a comparison between the 2 shells. Mine is more of an all-in aggresive strategy, while yours sacrifices some potential speed for some elements of midrange/attrition, which can help you pull out games that go longer that my deck would probably lose to. Also, Lead the Stampede seems like a great card in there, I actually was looking into Blue/White Humans, splashing for Mass Appeal and Deft Duelist, it also gets access to counterspells and Meddling Mage in the sideboard.

March 7, 2017
1:07 p.m.

i normally play death and taxes and right before i sleeved this humans list i was running a spirit taxes and let me tell you Reflector Mage is a pretty solid card, it is a 3 drop, but the tempo play is strong. Meddling Mage is really good too.

March 20, 2017
12:15 p.m.

budlaorf: I've tested Mentor of the Meek and I haven't been that impressed with it to be honest. 3 mana can be difficult to get to when running 20 lands, fairly often I won't get to 3 lands until turns 5-6. On top of that he has no immediate impact on the board, and is very mana intensive. When I tested it I found that I was tapping out too often to make use of the card draw. This is designed to be an all-in aggro deck, and the more grindy midrange elements you put in, the less of an aggro deck you become. Thraben Doomsayer, Cathars' Crusade, Increasing Devotion are all too slow against many top tier decks in modern, where most games are decided before turn 5. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is a colorless land until turn 3 is how I look at it, and I can't afford to run it because I have to be able to cast everything in my opening hand on early turns or I will lose. Odric, Master Tactician has always been kind of intriguing and I may do some testing with this in the future, however 4 mana is again difficult to get to, so I would need to see strong results.

kamarupa: I'm don't think I want to be adding grindier elements to the deck, this shell is more of an all-in strategy, but I could see Tezzeret's Gambit having a place in decks looking to win a few more games that go longer at the cost of losing some for not being fast enough. The more creatures I run, the more consistently I can have a strong start. It's a potential sideboard card though.

Thank you both for your suggestions.

March 20, 2017
7:39 p.m.

I completely agree with you, mahanhen about Mentor of the Meek and get where you're coming from with Tezzeret's Gambit, too. I run the Gambit in my white creatures with counters deck because, 1) my low CMC spells often leave my hand empty by t4-t5 and 2) all my creatures generate their own counters, so the Proliferate effect itself is as good as dropping a creature that would have triggered additional counters. In your deck, you'd have to have already dropped Thalia's Lieutenant to get the max benefit from dropping a Gambit. But like you said - it might be worth a thought in your sideboard for those matchups that start grinding.

March 20, 2017
9:17 p.m.

March 26, 2017
6:54 p.m.

cmsrDPM it doesn't seem great here to be honest, Honor of the Pure is just about the same effect in this deck, and I cut it because of its lack of impact if my board is empty. Thanks for the rating and suggestion though, Cheers.

Sideboard (15)

Maybeboard (8)

1x Aether&emsp13;Vial

1x Blessed&emsp13;Alliance

1x Dismember

1x Field&emsp13;Marshal

1x Lead&emsp13;the&emsp13;Stampede

1x Metallic&emsp13;Mimic

1x Pithing&emsp13;Needle

1x Tezzeret's&emsp13;Gambit

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